Mandarin level 1

Revised November 2024

Prerequisite for entry

For complete beginners or those who have had only very little contact with the language.

Term duration

10 x 2-hour classes.

Aims and objectives

The course aims to provide a solid foundation for beginners progressing to Level 1+, focusing on conducting basic yet effective daily communication in both formal and informal social contexts. Specifically, by the end of the course, learners will be able to use Chinese phonetics to greet and introduce themselves in initial meetings, write characters by following basic Chinese writing rules, understand and engage in conversations about well-known Chinese public figures, and master essential Chinese syntactic structures. Additionally, they will gain insights into Chinese naming culture.

Functions

• Greeting
• Introducing oneself and others
• Having conversations using names, nationalities, locations, occupations, etc.
• Discussing favourite celebrities

Course content

Main topics/themes to be covered:

• Chinese phonetics
• Character writing -strokes, stroke order, independent characters, etc.
• Greetings and polite expressions
• Names, nationalities, location, occupations, and related vocabulary
• Family members and descriptions of appearance
• Comments on people and events

Linguistic structures/ Phonetics

• Chinese pinyin-initials and finals
• Four tones + the neutral one  
• Chinese syllables and Sandhi

Grammar

• Basic Chinese sentence structure: Subject-Verb-Object (SVO)
• Yes-no questions ending with the question marker 吗, and wh-questions with 什么 (what), 哪 (which), 哪里 (where), 多大 (how old), 谁 (who), etc. in sentences
• The negator 不 (not) and adverbs- 也 (also), 都 (both, all) and 真 (really)
• Basic verbs: 是 (to be), 叫 (to be called), 姓 (to be called by surname) and 做 (to do)
• Possession with the particle 的

Learning resources

Books

Discover China: Student's Book One, edited by Chen Xin, Jing Lili, Macmillan, Chapters 1-4
ISBN: 9780230405950

Discover China: Workbook One
ISBN: 9780230405950

Bilingual Dictionaries

Langenscheidt dictionary
Oxford Beginners’ dictionary
Macmillan-FLTRP Chinese Character Dictionary

Websites

Dictionary

In addition there are supplementary materials for self-study in the Self-Access Centre.